Sunday, June 10, 2007

Teacher gets $142K Raise, But You Can Win $25K For Your Music Room!

All across the nation teachers complain about low salaries and often lower morale. In New York, there is at least one college professor that will not be complaining any time soon, although it does perhaps give the rest of us even more to gripe about. Ask yourself, what would you do with a 142k raise?

Ever had a problem remembering the title of a song even though you know the melody like the back of your baton? Well, Professor Pisano has written a little article on a little thing called Parson's Code that might just help out.

Time is running out FAST for a competition that could land you $25,000 worth of new equipment for your band room! Check it out now and sign up quick!

With cutting down to only two issues per week I am finding myself overrun with stories for my Monday and Thursday issues. These are a few of the best, but even more are available on the web site:

Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Why Is Classical Music a White Man's Game?

When you stop to think about it, how often have you played (or even heard) a piece of music by anyone other than the stereotypical dead (or living) caucasion composer? There are hundreds of works out there by highly talented and respected black composers and musicians but aside from jazz music, can you name even a single one? On Wednesday, the Philadelphia Inquirer published an article by Richard Greene titled "Muting some notable work ." This brief essay lays out in simple terms this very fact, and that black classical composers are getting a raw deal as a result.

Other Music and General Education Headlines:

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Band Trip Bus Crash That Killed Five- Final Jury Verdict Rendered

Courthouse Two years ago a bus crash in Wisconsin left five people dead and dozens more injured as a semi-trailer truck rolled itself on Interstate 94, later being hit by the oncoming school bus filled with students and chaperones returning from a band trip. After years of waiting and over thirty criminal charges being levied against him, the truck driver finally heard the jury's verdict. In a back and forth battle where the prosecutor accused the truck driver and the truck driver accused the bus driver, the final decision was rendered after only four hours of deliberation. What was the verdict? Read on to find out!

In other news, teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District are in some cases going on months without a paycheck. This massive school district has some massive problems.

Other Music and General Education News Stories:

Monday, April 30, 2007

Innocent Mistake May Cause Suspension of Band Student

Sometimes I wonder if terror fears have completely destroyed common sense in both public education and in public security. In the featured story today a student is facing suspension over a pocketknife found in his carry-on luggage during a band trip. The knife was left in the bottom of a pocket and left-over from a camping trip years earlier. I will be interested to see how this all turns out...

Featured Story For
Monday, April 30,2007

Student with a knife in his luggage is barred from a band trip (The York Dispatch)
EASTON -- The sophomore class president at Bangor Area High School was removed from a band trip to Great Britain when airport inspectors found a knife in his luggage, and he faces an expulsion hearing Wednesday.


Other Music Education News Headlines:

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Two Band Directors Indicted For Same Crime

Band directors indicted at Alton High School (The Telegraph)
EDWARDSVILLE ? The marching band director at Alton High School and his chief assistant were each indicted by a Madison County grand jury Thursday on charges of battery, alleging the teachers made inappropriate physical contact with one or more female students during incidents in the last two years.

Other Music Education News Headlines:

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Load 'em Up!

It took us five hours to load the truck and trailer from Uhaul with seven people helping me. Thank God for the Schlarmann family and for Mike (the band director that is taking my place at my old school). If it were not for them I think I would have gone insane. I pushed my father a bit too far I think. There was a time when moving me around was no big deal, but in the last ten years diabetes and other medical issues have taken their toll. At one point I was seriously worried he was having a heart attack. In the end he made it through okay, but we have never been at each other's throats so much in the thirty years I have been alive. He was exhausted and I was just plain grumpy and emotional about the move. I don't really want to move, and the stress of moving, starting a new job, and setting up a new household is wearing on me.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Ease on down the road

I just completed the biggest move of my life. Three kids, my wife, my dog, and a house full of belongings just made the big trip to a new community over three hours away from our old home. Of course, we picked the absolute worst weekend of the summer to move. Heat indexes have been up around 105 or higher every day this week and doing anything outside is an exercise in exhaustion. To top it all off I stupidly scheduled the move on a week that my wife was obligated to go to a week long conference in Des Moines. I thought I could do everything by myself, but I quickly found out differently. Luckily I have some very good and kind students and their families that volunteered to help me move out.